"The difficulty of Dzogchen meditation is that it is too easy."
--Dudjom Rinpoche
A little while ago, a horse passed by but he was not walking or trotting or cantering or galloping. He was being hauled on a flat-bed trailer, out in the open, behind a white sport utility vehicle with a weighed-down rear axle. There was a human, standing on the trailer with him, apparently feeding him out of a bucket.
The picture above does not do the scene justice. It was taken hurriedly, at long distance, after they had passed by. The road is about twenty acres away. It is sunken, because it is unpaved, and frequently re-graded.
When I walk out the door to throw away garbage, and first encounter the scene, it looks like the horse is just floating along the road. He is standing, motionless, on the trailer. The SUV is towing a motionless horse.
Being this close to the dream factory, you have to ask yourself if this is a lifelike statue of a horse, and a man, and a bucket. After a while, the horse flicks his tail. Is it a mechanized, lifelike statue of a horse, and a man, and a bucket? Any other moves programmed besides the tail flick? In the Bardo, you are going to see things a good deal more incongruous than a mechanized tail flick. You are going to hear sounds a good deal more startling than a whinny or a neigh.
What were we saying just the other day? Given the right causes and conditions, anything is possible? Maybe they are training the horse to be a parade horse: to maintain discipline behind a motorized vehicle. Maybe they are applying redneck logic, engaging in foolhardy behavior because they don't have a horse trailer.
So, then... before I drag out the Flashy Thing --
If you get caught up in appearances, then I can predict you will never become one of the Men In Black. If you let yourself be thrown by a floating horse, how do you expect to survive the gullet of an interstellar cockroach?
A little while ago, a horse passed by but he was not walking or trotting or cantering or galloping. He was being hauled on a flat-bed trailer, out in the open, behind a white sport utility vehicle with a weighed-down rear axle. There was a human, standing on the trailer with him, apparently feeding him out of a bucket.
Now, a horse weighs what? A lot, right? You can say that a horse is heavy, right?
You would think it might be difficult to drag that horse, man, bucket, trailer, and sport utility vehicle across twenty acres, and then toss them up on this blog.
Actually, it was really easy.
Damn... here we go again --
A little while ago, a horse passed by but he was not walking or trotting or cantering or galloping. He was being hauled on a flat-bed trailer, out in the open, behind a white sport utility vehicle with a weighed-down rear axle. There was a human, standing on the trailer with him, apparently feeding him out of a bucket.
Oh, for goodness sake --
A little while ago, I threw away garbage...
A man once said that everything is a great, lying projection...
My technical assistant just nominated me for something called the Blogisattva Awards. That is like kissing your sister, isn't it?
Anyway, these awards mean something to a guy who helped out around here the other day, so I thought we would give it a mention. If you like participating in these sorts of things, then by all means give the matter a click.
Personally, just as Groucho Rinpoche said, I would not want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.
I think I have told this story before, but I will tell it again anyway.
I was in New York, and it must have been the summer of 1970. In the summer of 1970, I was cultivating hard rice, and one of the places I stopped to take telephone calls was New York. People in New York were talking about cell phones that summer, wondering if they would prematurely set off the explosives rigged to demolish buildings, or if they would be used to deceive taxi dispatchers. But, nobody really had a cell phone yet. Cell phones were still in the process of being invented. In those days, you actually had to be somewhere to take a call, so I took mine in New York, and one day my teacher called.
He said, "I hear your actions don't always agree with your view."
I freely admitted the obvious truth, more or less expecting the worst, but he was very gentle. "Don't think too much about it," he said. "The important thing is the understanding. Let the actions come naturally from the understanding."
That is the story I have told before, but this time I want to add a few details that I left out, being chickenshit.
It is fruitless to beat yourself over the head for everything you think you have done "wrong," just as it is fruitless to pat yourself on the back for everything you think you have done "right." We've all heard this, correct? Or read it somewhere? Sounds nifty -- very Vajrayana -- very exotic, and convenient. So, we believe we are big and ugly enough to fundamentally realize "wrong" and "right" are just mental imputations that keep us roiling around in samsara.
Well, we like to believe that way.
The truth is, if you want to operate as if there is no wrong or right, chances are good you will go up in lights. This can become a courageously beautiful expression of the continuously sublime abiding of spontaneous compassion. It can also become a felony. If you do not mind going up in lights, and if you can do the time, then there is no problem.
Things that seem right at the time do not always seem right in hindsight. For example, we can be morally convinced that what we are doing is wholesome, noble, and good. We can be following all the rules. Later, it turns out that all we have done is construct a colossal rationalization for doing exactly as we please; being the biggest stinkers we know how to be. It is satanic in a way: we gorge ourselves with both hands, and with our mouths full, we say, "Oh, this is fine! I'm on a special diet you see?"
Some teachers teach that you come to know the character of an act only when you experience its result. That is a variation Oxford history professors employ to teach the craft of history. They tell you that while it is useful to examine what was intended, it is more useful to examine what actually happened. This is a very similar approach, you see? You can just fire away, and some distance down the road, you can see how it all turns out.
So, what some teachers propose is a karmic litmus test. If your action was purely motivated and flawlessly executed, then you will escape the experience of suffering. However, if your motivation was impure, you will go up in lights and get slapped down by the king. This is an almost Christian notion, so it appeals to people who were raised in Christian societies, and who now cleave to Buddhism because it "isn't Christian." Time heals all wounds and wounds all heels, or so the saying goes.
Innocent men are hung all the time, but nobody blames the hangman.
If you subscribe to this notion of a karmic litmus test -- and mind you, I am not saying it is correct nor am I saying it is incorrect; rather, we are just ventilating ideas here -- the day will inevitably come when you look back and think, "Oh, wow... I am going straight to Hell." Because, things always look different in hindsight. You always have a good deal more information available to you: more than was available when the deeds in question were authored. So, this can lead one to quite an anxious state of mind, and all sorts of absolutely useless emotions that drag one to the depths of despair. Things that were in fact right at the time can be made to seem wrong in hindsight. This becomes a neurotic preoccupation -- a micro-management -- and it happens all the time.
Things do not work quite in this fashion. You can author some pretty horrible mischief, and never feel the result in this lifetime. Occasionally, the more horrible the mischief, the greater the delay. Time does not disconnect cause and effect -- time only compounds matters. To the point: you can blindly author incredibly horrible mischief, get away with it your entire life, and come to feel yourself wholly empowered in the process. You can become so automatic that you shoot people right between the eyes and feel vindicated when they die. It doesn't matter if you use a pistol or a helicopter. Maybe somebody will even give you a medal.
Here is a video for you to watch. This was taken through the gun camera of an Apache helicopter, in East Baghdad, back in 2007. The sound track is the radio traffic associated with the engagement being recorded.
Watch the entire video.
Try not to have an opinion about what you see.
Think of it as a meditation.
You will see and hear people no different from yourself, morally convinced they are doing the right thing. They are following the rules.
This rule-keeping can become a dangerous obstacle, you know? There is a difference between intellectual and experiential understanding. If your understanding is merely intellectual -- as for example, when you read a book or hear a lecture -- this becomes an obstacle. Sure, you can comprehend what you read or hear, but you cannot say that you understand. If you are keeping rules for the sake of keeping rules, or out of fear of the consequences, or fear of making mistakes, then you are completely contrived. I once heard a person proclaim, "I am a karma-fearing Buddhist." That is avoidance, and just plain wrong.
Once, when I was around seventeen or so, I asked my teacher, "What is the point of all this activity?" I was referring to the whole Buddhist she-bang.
He was rummaging around in a Bhutanese basket he kept under his desk. He stored little packets of powdered herbal medicine in the basket. Without looking up, he answered, "There is no point."
"Well, if there is no point, then what am I supposed to be cultivating?"
He still didn't look up.
"Spontaneous correct action," he answered, and his voice sounded weary.
"That's all?"
"That's all."
"That's the ultimate?"
"If you want to put a name on it."
"So, how do I cultivate spontaneous correct action?"
He looked up sharply at that point.
"You could recognize that you have sense enough not to aggravate me with questions when you already know the answer!"
"Rinpoche! If I already knew the answer, I wouldn't ask the question!"
"Boy! Every question supplies it own answer when it comes into being!"
I could be wrong, but I do not believe that bodhisattvas have to contrive what they do or don't do based on hopes or fears. Doing the compassionate thing in any given situation seems to be effortless. Small children are effortless. They do not walk up to you and say, "Hello, I am an innocent little child." They just are as they are. Similarly, eight great cemeteries, crammed chock-full of hair-trigger dakinis, are not necessarily confined to one particular geographical locale.
You can spend your whole life learning what you already know.
Coming to effortlessly exhibit some signs of authentic realization for the benefit of all sentient beings, in one lifetime, in one body, is not for the faint of heart. Access to the supporting corpus of instruction has, in my opinion, become too easy. Most Westerners are ill-suited to Vajrayana. Maybe we are better off chanting the sutras, and staying out of trouble. Still, if you have the cash, you can buy damn near anything these days, and that includes direct access to the immediate side of Tibetan Buddhism. In consequence, we have a bunch of nuts running around thinking they are yogis, or yoginis, just because somebody sold off an empowerment and mumbled something in a foreign language.
And not just Tibetan Buddhism, either. You see this with Zen Buddhism, whatever that is. People running around lecturing each other, giving each other titles, and digging up the backyard to make sand and rock gardens. Some spend all day and night arguing about what is and isn't, making up poems and things. You know, if you like that sort of stuff, you should just move out to the desert. Out in the desert, we don't have to make sand and rock gardens because they're already here. There isn't anybody here to argue with, and that leaves a lot of free time to make up poetry. Hell, I made up a poem myself just the other day:
Empty road. Blame Jack Kerouac.
Bulging box office. Blame Leonard Cohen.
You, too. Where the streets have no blame.
I do have a black robe that I keep for culturally non-specific first response, in case of philosophical emergencies. Sometimes I wear it when I visit museums. Wear it with a white shirt and the sky is the limit.
A drive-by is when people who don't really know how to properly use firearms all pile in a vehicle, go somewhere they feel they need to make some sort of record, and then start shooting as they drive through said locale -- usually killing innocent bystanders.
If you look closely at the photograph, above, you will see that some son of a bitch nailed it with a Nine.
Oh, well... like the man said... let the actions come naturally, from the understanding.
To compassionately demonstrate the nature of impermanence, Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche (10 May 1942 - 19 June 2010) has withdrawn his vision of this world.
Here is the text of the official announcement:
Palden Padma Samye Ling
618 Buddha Highway
Sidney Center, NY 13839
June 20, 2010
On the auspicious day of Medicine Buddha, June 19, 2010 at 8:07pm, our most beloved teacher and one of the great scholars and masters in Nyingmapa Buddhism, Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche passed into parinirvana peacefully and beautifully. All stages of meditation were perfectly demonstrated according to the teachings of the Buddha and Guru Padmasambhava, and as Khenchen Rinpoche himself taught for so many years. He entered fearlessly without any emotion or attachment, joyfully and with confidence at his home, Arya Palo Ling, in the presence of his beloved brother, Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, and Jomo Lorraine, and during the sangha’s practice of Vajrasattva in the glorious Copper-colored Temple at Palden Padma Samye Ling monastery. Surrounded by every lush spring quality of gentle breezes, birds singing, flowers blooming, and deer playing in the meadows, he remains in thugdam meditation.
Offering ceremonies began in India, Nepal, and Tibet immediately following Khenchen Rinpoche’s parinirvana, and beginning today we will hold 49 days of offering ceremonies at Palden Padma Samye Ling. We warmly invite the PBC sangha to gather together for these ceremonies. Soon we will be sending a schedule of all of the practices and services that will be held on behalf of Khenchen Rinpoche. Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche requests everyone to please recite the 100-syllable mantra of Vajrasattva.
For those wishing to make offerings, please consider supporting the “108 Reliquary Stupa Garden” that will be installed at Padma Samye Ling in honor of Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche. You can mail your offering payable to “PBC” to Palden Padma Samye Ling to the attention of: 108 Reliquary Stupa Garden.
In order to remember the sublime qualities of our most kind and humble teacher, here are a few excerpts from A Praise of the Venerable Lama Called the Melodious Words of the Ocean of Devotion, that Khenpo Pema Gyaltsen composed in the late 1990’s:
"Although dwelling primordially in the expanse of Samantabhadra,
You possess the magical display of most glorious Vajrakumara.
Maturing and liberating whomever, incomprehensible protector,
All-victorious embodiment of wisdom, to the lama I bow down.
From the rich, fertile soil of your positive merit and generosity,
The sweet smell of saffron arisen from your ethical discipline pervades.
Sovereign of realization arisen from meditation, full bloom of spring,
Endowed with the three grounds of positive merit, to the lama I bow down.
Steadfast, constant root of the wish-granting tree of the four immeasurables,
Luxuriant, full blossom of the activities of the six perfections,
Tending after others, the fruit of the four bodhisattva activities,
Beneficial action, glorious protector, to the lama I bow down.
Having abandoned long ago the obstacles to all objects of knowledge,
Teaching all the ways of Dharma to disciples of good fortune,
Just like a second Lord of Conquerors in the teachings of the Conqueror,
Bliss-gone one with perfect skill in the ten powers, to the lama I bow down.
The most beautiful moon, Manjushri, the wisdom of exalted knowledge,
Coming from the awakened mind of Chenrezig, the great compassion,
Just like Vajrapani, the power and might both unchallenged and unrivaled,
Living countenance that gathers the three families, savior, to the lama I bow down.
Listening, contemplation, and meditation, the three, vast as the rich Earth,
Teaching, debate, and composition, the three, resounding music everywhere,
Knowledge, virtue, and goodness, the three, dramatic play of Samantabhadra,
Perfect monarch of these nine excellent manners, to the lama I bow down.
Possessor of firm skill, virtue, and glory, great holder of the Vinaya,
With marvelous bodhichitta guiding wanderers, hero bodhisattva,
Completely, clearly realized in the four empowerments, great vidydhara,
Crown ornament of all teachers, to the venerable lama I bow down."
Yours in the Dharma,
Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche
NOTE: A generally positive and successful week, but watch out for sudden, surprising, and not altogether welcome news or events. This is the best week all year for Senge Dradok practice.
June 21, 2010 - Chinese 11th, M-T-K 10th. Mouse, Dwa, Yellow 5. Guru Rinpoche Day. Today is also the Summer Solstice. Today is baden, so no prayer flags. Also celebrated as Dilgo Khyentse Yangsi's birthday. Despite the auspicious character of today's events, the underlying energies are less than optimal. A good day for thieves, so beware.
June 22, 2010 - Chinese 12th, M-T-K 11th. Ox, Khen, White 6. Today is zin phung. Excellent energies today. Progress is possible. Important meetings favored. Good day for a wedding.
June 23, 2010 - Chinese 13th, M-T-K 12th. Tiger, Kham, Red 7. A good day for mothers, children, and that special someone. If every summer has a summer romance, today is the summer's day (or eve) to begin that particular enjoyment with a declaration to the object of your affections -- but don't make any promises. Not a good day for marriage.
June 24, 2010 - Chinese 14th, M-T-K 13th. Rabbit, Gin, White 8. Mixed signals. Gain is possible, but there may be some negativity attached. Good day for Vajrakilaya practice.
June 25, 2010 - Chinese 15th, M-T-K 14th. Dragon, Zin, Red 9. Extremely positive energies, favoring rapid accomplishment. Good for construction. Good day to plant trees.
June 26, 2010 - Chinese 16th, M-T-K 15th. Snake, Zon, White 1. Lunar Eclipse. Another very positive day, favoring accomplishment. Effects of actions multiplied 1,000 times today.
June 27, 2010 -Chinese 17th, M-T-K 16th. Horse, Li, Black 2. Beware of illness that suddenly overcomes vitality. Do not try to do too much today.
Naga observations for the fifth month: Only one really good day this month -- lunar 15, but offerings also possible on 9, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27. Nine bad days -- 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 16, 22.
Consult our extended discussion of 2010 astrology by clicking here.
Published every Monday at 00:01 香港時間 but written in advance and auto-posted. See our Introduction to Daily Tibetan Astrology for background information. If you know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can get information about your positive and negative days by clicking here. If you don't know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can obtain that information by clicking here. For specific information about the astrology of 2010, inclusive of elements, earth spirits, and so forth, please consult our extended discussion by clicking here. Click here for Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables. Weekly Tibetan Astrology copyright (c) 2010. All rights reserved.
In one view, we can consider everything as unborn, uncreated, and therefore not subject to destruction or decay.
In another view, we can and do wreak a great deal of mischief and misery with all the best intentions.
Depending on causes and conditions, anything can happen. No matter how hard we try, we cannot completely manage all the possible causes and conditions. We can, in theory if not in fact, completely screw up everything.
When people were deciding to drill holes in the Gulf of Mexico in order to pump up oil, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I am certain there are tens of thousands of pages of environmental impact reports, engineering studies, and the like, all of which rubber stamp the notion that there is no problem.
Turns out there is a problem.
In most whorehouses, if you pay a little extra, you can get the girls to say, "I love you," and this they do quite convincingly. Even though you know it is not true, and even though you have paid for the service, they have the ability to make you believe that which is inherently unbelievable. They are able to do this because you have already suspended rational expectation; you have asked and agreed to be deceived, and in this vacuum, they tell you what you so earnestly want to hear.
Human beings are like that, you know?
As a people, some time ago, we made the decision to protect our lands and the cohabitant creatures we seem to endanger by our very being. We set aside whole regions to these ends, and we designated numbers of creatures as being of "special interest." We wrote laws to accomplish this, and funded huge agencies to enforce those laws.
Except now, in our frantic belief that we must embrace what we call alternative energies -- so-called because they are an alternative to oil -- we are going around breaking the faith with our lands and our creatures. We are deliberately circumventing the laws we made, and the environmental protection policies we established, in pursuit of what we believe is a greater good.
In order to accomplish this, we are paying a little more to hear what we want to hear. Yes, this wind project will impact several protected species, but here is a mitigation plan. Yes, this solar project will impact a protected area, but we will re-quantify its beauty along lines of accommodation.
Bright lipstick. Dark eye-shadow. Long lashes. Languid eyes.
"Baby, you know I love you?"
We have companies of convenience that come together for a project and then disappear. They are supposedly staffed by "applied biological consultants," "visual resource specialists," and a host of other, instant experts in expediency. They inhabit a shadow world, and speak a shadow language. They count endangered species, or examine endangered views, and then tell us how the damage we intend to do can be "mitigated."
I want to tell you this -- with all of the attention currently being given to the company responsible for the oil spill in the gulf, I believe we are missing the real guilty parties -- we are missing the environmental shadow speakers who made the travesty of offshore drilling possible in the first place.
So...
It may not matter very much to you in the great scheme of things, but here in my little corner of the world the scenario is playing itself out again, in a largely ignored plan to generate 84 megawatts of electric power by means of the wind. Because this is happening in the desert, nobody pays it any mind. After all... deserts are, well... deserts, aren't they?
"Desertification" is an ugly word we use to describe the negative effects of man's abuse of the environment. The very concept reflects our subliminal feeling about deserts as wastelands. However, "desertification" has nothing whatsoever to do with the actuality of deserts, which are pristine eco-systems, teeming with beauty and life. Well, at least they are until we desertify the deserts. Properly speaking, desertification is the deterioration of arid biomes brought about by human activity.
In America, today, we are preparing to deliberately deteriorate our deserts because we believe -- or we have been led to believe -- that by so doing, we serve a greater good. We are willing to believe that solar power and wind power will somehow lessen our dependence on fossil fuels. We are willing to believe that destroying our deserts is an acceptable trade.
Here, in my desert, the proposed wind project will negatively impact no fewer than fourteen species of special interest -- to include Golden Eagles: the very symbol of America. It will result in the loss of over 2,500 acres of "federally protected" tortoise habitat. It will negatively impact precious groundwater supplies in ways we cannot foresee, placing enormous strain on already fragile and overburdened aquifers. It will not produce any local employment, it will not result in lower energy bills for local residents. The 84 megawatts this project produces will be sold to Nevada, where it will power the colored lights of Las Vegas casinos.
Is this just? Is this what we want? Is this what we need?
Years from now, when all is said and done, there will be no sudden, dramatic episode -- like oil billowing from the ocean floor -- to demonstrate our wrongs. There will be no oil-soaked wildlife, or destroyed beaches. There will be few left to mourn the passing of America's unique, arid lands, because there will be few who remember -- fewer still who care.
There will only be forests of spinning white towers with blinking, red aeronautical lights, and the flickering and flashing that comes at sunrise and sunset. There will only be plains of mirrored silicon, pointed at the blinding sun.
The faded presence of the beings we destroy -- of the raw beauty we defile -- will reduce us as a nation, and as individuals, and we will be demons of our planet. In such event, whether we are to be pitied or feared is a question nobody wants to answer.
NOTE: This is a great week for yoga, exercise, religious practice (I know, I know), and generally gathering energy for good things to come. Don't wear yourself out this week: just let things rise and fall as they may. Even if things seem to be going wrong, they are actually going right. If you are able to transcend notions of "wrong" or "right" or "how things are going" it is even better. A super week for meditation.
June 14, 2010 - Chinese 3rd, M-T-K 2nd. Dragon, Dwa, White 6. Today is yan kwong. Any vague unease you might feel should be overcome by today's positive qualities, which are significant. Just avoid being an opera star, and you'll do fine.
June 15, 2010 - Chinese 4th, M-T-K 3rd. Snake, Khen, Red 7. Stay in one place and gather your strength. Do not accept new responsibilities today. Great day for yoga.
June 16, 2010 - Chinese 5th, M-T-K 4th. Horse, Kham, White 8. Mixed messages. Travel with caution today.
June 17, 2010 - Chinese 6th, M-T-K 5th. Sheep, Gin, Red 9. Today is zin phung. Much like Monday. Turn worry or doubt into understanding, and this day will shine. Another good day for yoga.
June 18, 2010 - Chinese 7th, M-T-K 7th. Monkey, Zin, White 1. Note omitted day in Tibetan practice. Today is the anniversary of the second Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, and the birthday of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. This can be a successful day if you set aside petty annoyances or bickering.
June 19, 2010 - Chinese 8th, M-T-K 8th. Bird, Zon, Black 2. The astrological energies are not particularly favorable. Don't spend money, time, or energy on anything today. Just let it flow, and pass.
June 20, 2010 -Chinese 9th, M-T-K 9th. Dog, Li, Blue 3. Father's Day in the U.S., Canada, and Oz. You don't have to get me anything. Just be happy. Today is Nyi Nak (according to Rigpa). Very smooth energies otherwise.
Naga observations for the fifth month: Only one really good day this month -- lunar 15, but offerings also possible on 9, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27. Nine bad days -- 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 16, 22.
Consult our extended discussion of 2010 astrology by clicking here.
Published every Monday at 00:01 香港時間 but written in advance and auto-posted. See our Introduction to Daily Tibetan Astrology for background information. If you know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can get information about your positive and negative days by clicking here. If you don't know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can obtain that information by clicking here. For specific information about the astrology of 2010, inclusive of elements, earth spirits, and so forth, please consult our extended discussion by clicking here. Click here for Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables. Weekly Tibetan Astrology copyright (c) 2010. All rights reserved.
"I just had a quite pleasant call from Diane Sauter, superintendant/ director of Petroglyph Nat'l Monument. She assured me that there are no plans to raze-bulldoze-molest the stupa in any way . The construction workers on an amphitheater some 500' distant will be alerted about the stupa. She said she will have official remarks about this on their [petroglyph monument?] site within a few days. She also said she'd gotten word back from feds ( director of Parks Dept!) in Washington about the whole issue so apparently the emails- calls- letters did have good effect.
There's also going to be an article with pix in the Alb Journal within the next several days, maybe Sunday[?].
May this modest stupa continue to generate great benefit for all beings!"
This is Saga Dawa, and collectively, our readers, and the readers of the other Buddhist bloggers who picked up this story, have accomplished something of memorable significance. I believe it is important that we follow through on this, and remember to thank the elected representatives who assisted us, notably Representative Martin Heinrich, and his Legislative Director John Blair. We must also remember to thank the National Park Service for responding so quickly.
By the way: Ariane Emery (she built the stupa) now has her own site operational at --
Ariane's site gives the local perspective and a good deal more history, including photos of the grand prayer wheel that was out there. I want to encourage people to follow the story on her site.
The merit associated with preserving, protecting, and securing a stupa is inconceivable to the human mind. May that merit be dedicated to the welfare of all sentient beings.
"Today I was able to reach and speak to a National Park Service Ranger that works at the Petroglyph National Park visitor center, and she passed along the following information to me; 'The NPS no longer has any plans to bulldoze or remove the Stupa, for now or the foreseeable future.'
Apparently, the issue was brought to their attention sometime yesterday, and they even wanted to clarify that the Stupa may be visited at any time by any interested person. While this is great news, they weren't able to expand on any permanent plans the NPS has for the land or the Stupa. I am unsure of the reason they had a change of heart to release this information, but all the same, perhaps the thousands of voices out there were indeed heard."
Thank you to everyone who responded to our call for assistance. May the merit of your collective actions in saving this stupa from harm be dedicated to the welfare of all sentient beings.
I spent a portion of my life on the Gulf. We used to go camping at a place called Longboat Key, which in those days, circa 1964, was completely unspoiled. The pines came all the way down to the white beach. You could camp anywhere, at the edge of the pines, and hear the wind sighing all night long. This was Longchenpa's "edges of the wildwood of inner calm, together with the cool moonlight of compassion."
We had an exchange student with us, a young man from Thailand named Tharanong Buatong, who we just called "Do." He had already been a monk for two years -- I think at Wat Plai Doi, I am not sure -- which was more or less compulsory for young people in those days. Do had a natural, effortless, reverence for life that expressed itself many ways.
"Bua Tong" is a Thai sunflower.
The fishermen at Longboat Key used to plant their reels in the sand, and leave their lines cast out into the surf. The waterbirds would come skimming across the water at dusk, and get entangled in the lines. Do and me used to sneak along the beach and cut the lines, so the fish would not be tempted, and the birds would not drown.
Now, quite naturally, everything has changed. Longboat Key is one big real estate development. If there are any pine trees left, I'll wager they were trucked in from elsewhere. The young Thai monk and the widow's crazy son are gone. I heard that Do became a general, and I of course became a deliberate failure. Nevertheless, it would be fair to say that Do and me have probably always carried a little bit of the Gulf along with us, like grains of sand in the bottom of a pocket.
How sad my old friend must feel, when he hears what we have done to the Gulf.
Because we have divided all that we seem to experience
into polar opposites founded on mistaken notions of "them" and "us"
We trade ever-present satisfaction
For temporary dreams
believing in the illusion of happiness and gain.
When, from the lust for independence
in this world of interdependence,
we selfishly cut open the earth's veins
I pray we remember the planet's wounded waters
and how, from ignorance, we injured all beings in and around them
The shores that map our aspiration for water and earth
do not delimit primordial perfection
which is spacious and profound:
by resting in one place
radiant blessings reach beyond the idea of boundaries
It is not for the inhabited waters alone we pray
but for the wild places we do not always remember to see
this great ocean of misery that seems to come and go
when we close our eyes, when we open our eyes
Instantly evaporated when we open our hearts
May mistaken notions be tamed,
May always possible perfection be realized
May peace born within us heal the damage we have done
May life be comfortably sustained for all sentient beings who suffer
By the merit of our clear awakening
By the power of truth,
May there spontaneously come an end to the disharmony of the elements
NOTE: This is an otherwise positive week, with a major caveat: Tuesday and Wednesday display dangerous energies. In a sense, you could go so far as to refer to these as "death" days. Once that little bridge is crossed, all things are possible. This is a very good week for meaningful intentions and hard work, leading to actual accomplishment. Wishful thinking won't get it done.
June 7, 2010 - Chinese 25th, M-T-K 25th. Monkey, Dwa, Red 7. Dakini Day. Today is baden, so no prayer flags. Very positive energies otherwise. Best day for naga offerings, and in fact, I would say they are essential.
June 8, 2010 - Chinese 26th, M-T-K 26th. Bird, Khen, White 8. Beware of sudden illnesses, injuries, obstacles to health, and accidents. Today and tomorrow are dangerous days.
June 9, 2010 - Chinese 27th, M-T-K 27th. Dog, Kham, Red 9. Extremely negative energies today, continued from yesterday: a reaping, so to speak.
June 10, 2010 - Chinese 28th, M-T-K 28th. Pig, Gin, White 1. This can be a very successful day, wherein careful plans come to fruition.
June 11 2010 - Chinese 30th, M-T-K 29th. Ox, Zon, Blue 3. Note omitted day in Chinese practice. Today is zin phung. There is the chance to prevail over obstacles today, but effort is required.
June 12, 2010 - Chinese 1st, M-T-K 30th. Tiger, Li, Green 4. Very favorable energies today. Excellent day for naga offerings.
June 13, 2010 -Chinese 2nd, M-T-K 1st. Rabbit, Khon, Yellow 5. Very favorable energies today.
Naga observations for the fifth month: Only one really good day this month -- 15, but offerings also possible on 9, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27. Nine bad days -- 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 16, 22.
Consult our extended discussion of 2010 astrology by clicking here.
Published every Monday at 00:01 香港時間 but written in advance and auto-posted. See our Introduction to Daily Tibetan Astrology for background information. If you know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can get information about your positive and negative days by clicking here. If you don't know the symbolic animal of your birth year, you can obtain that information by clicking here. For specific information about the astrology of 2010, inclusive of elements, earth spirits, and so forth, please consult our extended discussion by clicking here. Click here for Hong Kong Observatory conversion tables. Weekly Tibetan Astrology copyright (c) 2010. All rights reserved.
Remember the 1972 Rolling Stones world tour? Every time I hear about the 2010 Dilgo Khyentse world tour I get a sense of deja vu, except now, the cheap seats are USD $375. This has to be the most heavily promoted and merchandised grand lama tour in history. To drive what the motion picture industry calls the "back end," they have come up with a marvelous logo -- guess you already know who is a sucker for this one.
This is actually an adaptation or interpretation of Dilgo Khyentse's personal emblem, depicted below on his letterhead. His name, Rabsel Dawa, means "Brilliant Moon," and I do believe we have already explained the connection between the rabbit and the moon.
The folks who are handling the store have launched their on-line presence today, so come one, come all. Just don't buy up all the rabbit hats and t-shirts before I get mine, O.K.? By the way -- apologies to the original designer of the Rolling Stones 1972 tour poster, which I have mercilessly altered above.
Rabbit flags? We'll take two dozen of those, please.
We are informed that Rep. Heinrich's Legislative Director, John Blair, is now riding this issue. He can be contacted at john.blair@mail.house.gov
Please take a moment to email him and tell him how you feel about National Park Service plans to bulldoze a Tibetan Buddhist stupa in New Mexico.
We spoke with an e-journalist who interviewed a Hill staffer on this issue just this morning. He tells us there is definitely Congressional interest. This we understand from reading our logs.
Our counters reset at midnight, and by mid-morning, we began to see heavy traffic to the Albuquerque stupa post. Below, you see snapshots from our logs. At around 267, xxx in the day's visits, ranging through to 268, xxx -- by the way: we may not be the biggest Tibetan Buddhist blog in the world, but our readership is still substantial enough to make a difference. We take over a quarter million hits every day before noon -- much of that coming from outside the United States. This is not just a U.S. issue: no matter where you are -- let your voice be heard.
Our sources also tell us that Native American relics are in the stupa, which raises an entirely new palette of possible protections. I do not think that even the National Park Service, in all of its arrogance, can overcome the legal status of Native American relics.
The National Park Service must be feeling it: they visited our Albuquerque stupa posts, and then disappeared. We haven't seen them since. These people are weasels. Reporters are calling them, bloggers are calling them, Hill staffers are calling them, but everybody gets the run-around. We need answers, and we need them now.
Our next visitors to the story were more distinguished: the U.S. Senate staffers were visiting in depth.
More than one Senate staffer, from more than one Senate computer, thinks enough of this issue to do some reading.
Somebody in the Senate is coming back more than once, to make sure they have the story straight. Yes, there is a stupa in Albuquerque, and yes, the National Park Service thinks they have the right to bulldoze the stupa out of existence.
On the heels of the Senate came the House, which is where we are hoping to see some leadership on this issue.
More than one visitor came from the House, because there is more than one Buddhist in New Mexico, and they are in more than one Congressional District.
As in the case of the Senate visitors, the House visitors were coming back more than once. That is a very good sign.
Above, we noted a particularly long visit. They were reading, following links, and making copies. There are numerous other visits, but I trust you take the point: your emails and phone calls are effective. Do not stop. Keep it up. If you have not already done so, please add your voice to this issue.
The links you need to get started can be found here.
Stupa as it appeared before Smokey got his nasty paws on it.
Dear Readers:
Over the past two years, we have posted three items on the subject of an at-risk stupa near Albuquerque, New Mexico. We would appreciate if you would read those items, and familiarize yourselves with the issue at hand, because now we are going to do something we have never done before: we are going to beg for your help --
Stupa as it appeared after Smokey got his nasty paws on it.
Ariane Emery, one of the people who built this stupa, tells the story briefly, but she tells it best:
"When the stupa was built, it was on private land. We fought the park service for 6 years after finding out they intended to take the land on which we lived. After the park service took the land, they razed everything on it, including the the house, the outbuildings, gardens and sweat lodge area. Even the 100 or so native trees are now gone. Many monks, lamas, Native Americans and practitioners visited and even lived there. Many wonderful people have poured their hearts there."
The stupa has been consecrated -- three times -- by Lama Rinchen Phuntsok, who scoured the world for the texts placed inside. As Ariane says, "Many of us came together at the right time to create this offering." However, just this past week, Ariane went back to Albuquerque, and visited the stupa. She tells us:
"There was a bulldozer nearby and a large number of piles of sand. I went to the visitor center and the ranger said the park was going to build an amphitheater there."
The National Park Service believes it has the right to bulldoze this stupa? This is completely unacceptable. Apparently, there are some people in Washington, D.C. and the State of New Mexico who believe that Buddhists don't vote, and that world opinion does not matter. We need your help to educate them. We need you to show them the error of their ways. Lets get down to cases: we need your help to raise a 'Sixties-style, students-in-the-streets, political stink about this, and save that stupa!
This photo taken today. Note sand piles in background. This is being trucked in.
There are a number of ways to proceed. One supposes the top priority is to find a public interest law firm willing to take this case pro bono. We need an underlying action upon which to base an injunction, and that will require plaintiffs. Any volunteers?
One also imagines letters to Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior Ken Salazar, but it is difficult to believe that will do any good. He is out of the Senate and serving as a Cabinet Secretary now. He doesn't necessarily need to be responsive to constituents, but he does need to be responsive to appropriations -- thus, perhaps the best approach is to start lighting up the House and Senate.
Now, appalling as it is, the House and Senate do not listen to you and me, but they do listen to the media, so any grassroots campaign must bring print and broadcast journalists on board in the early stages. Here is how it all breaks down:
Hon. Jeff Bingaman
United States Senate
703 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-3102
(202) 224-5521
http://bingaman.senate.gov/
Bingaman is a Democrat; a former New Mexico Attorney General. His Chief of Staff is Stephen Ward, and his Legislative Director is Trudy Vincent. He is up for re-election in 2012.
Hon. Tom Udall
United States Senate
110 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-3101
(202) 224-6621
http://tomudall.senate.gov
Udall is a Democrat; a former New Mexico Attorney General, and former Assistant United States Attorney. His Chief of Staff is Tom Nagle. His Legislative Director is Michael Collins. He is up for re-election in 2014.
Hon. Martin Heinrich
United States House of Representatives
1505 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3101
(202) 225-6316
http://heinrich.house.gov
Heinrich is a Democrat; a former member of the Albuquerque City Council. His Chief of Staff is Steve Haro. His Legislative Director is John Blair. He is up for re-election in 2010 and this mess is in his backyard.
Albuquerque Journal
John Robertson is their Government/Politics Editor.
(505) 823-3911 jrobertson@abqjournal.com
you can also hunt and peck for an investigative reporter here.
KRQE is the CBS affiliate. Contact points are here.
KOAT is the ABC affiliate. Contact points are here.
A full list of local media is here, but the above should be enough to get you started.
Photo taken today. A local Buddhist volunteer is performing maintenance.
Print journalists and Hill staffers want reasoned facts they can list in bullet format. They use these to build story outlines, talking points, and so forth. Broadcast journalists want visuals. In either case, you have to articulate a demand: we want the National Park Service to sell the land under the stupa to the local Buddhists, and we want Heinrich to introduce a legislative solution similar to that introduced by Rep. Lewis in the Mojave Cross case. We can give him tips on how to do that by researching the Lewis Bill, and present him with a complete package. Since he is a freshman, he will need all the help he can get.
Now, either Heinrich is going to be responsive or he is not. In either case, a group of monks, nuns, lamas, and lay people, carrying signs, and holding a press conference at the site will bring out the cameras. He, or his representative, can show up and be a hero or a zero -- that would be their call.
At the same we are approaching Heinrich, we also need to approach Bingaman and Udall for companion legislation. Both senators are extremely skilled lawyers, so we won't need to do as much hand-holding. We will need to present a sound argument. We believe both will be sensitive to the recent Supreme Court ruling.
No matter what we do, we will need to demonstrate that there are Buddhists in New Mexico, and that these New Mexican Buddhists are politically aware. We should also include Senators Feinstein and Pelosi in our campaign -- just in case somebody in Washington needs a number to call and ask, "Why is a stupa so important?"
So there is the mission -- save the stupa in Albuquerque.
Please help by contacting every Buddhist you may know in New Mexico. Please contact the politicians and journalists noted above, explaining why it is important this stupa be preserved. If you are a public interest attorney, or if you know one, please do not be shy: jump on this one. If you are a blogger, please start blogging. If you are a Tweeter, start tweeting.
Please help. Even if you are overseas, please help. The stupa is there for the benefit of all sentient beings.
UPDATED:
Kyle Lovett (no relation to Lyle?) championed this cause at the Reformed Buddhist blog, wherein he raised the important point of different treatment. Here is what Kyle had to say:
The Federal government has announced its intentions to bulldoze a small Tibetan Buddhist Stupa near the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico after the National Park Service seized the land using the power of eminent domain to build an outdoor amphitheater. This comes on the heels of a similar case, when earlier this year the US Supreme Court voted in a 5-4 decision to save a Christian Cross residing on NPS land inside the Mojave desert, after the NPS denied a Buddhist organization request to build a small Stupa near the Cross. In yet another similar case in 2006, President George W Bush signed into law an act of eminent domain to save another Christian Cross residing on public land inside the City of San Diego, after the US Court of Appeals had ordered the Cross to be taken down, stating the violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the No Preference clause in the California Constitution.
Yesterday, I was unable to reach anyone in the National Park Service Headquarters that was willing to give any comment on their plans or reasoning behind bulldozing the Stupa. Certainly, if the Federal government is willing to use the very powerful tool of eminent domain to save a Christian Cross residing on public land, its actions in New Mexico bring up very important Constitutional questions of its endorsement of religion given its willingness to use the same powers to bulldoze a symbol of another religion. The first amendment of the US Constitution strictly forbids the United States government to "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
The question has to be raised, is the US government indeed attempting to establish a de facto official religion by its actions over the past 5 years? Ken Salazar, the Secretary for the Department of the Interior, which runs the National Park Service, has been eerily quiet about these actions, as has the Obama administration. Unquestionably, the volunteer caretakers of the Stupa have been more than willing to work with the NPS to preserve the Buddhist symbol within the confines of its amphitheater plans, however, any attempts to open dialogue have been met with no success. One of the ongoing advertising campaigns of the NPS has been "Get Involved!"; I suppose they only wish those to get involved if they are indeed Christian."
Claude Arpi examines Russian attempts to broker peace between China and the Dalai Lama, in a recent edition of The Statesman:
Startling news often goes unnoticed amidst the daily diet of glamorous cricket. As happened on 13 May when Novosti, the Russian state-owned news agency, quoted the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov: “Russia is ready to help settle the conflict between China and the Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama."
During a speech in the Federation Council, Russia’s Upper House of Parliament, Lavrov said that Moscow supports the development of inter-religious and inter-confessional ties, though it is “against aspects of religion that have been distorted into politics”. And then, the news: “We are following carefully what is happening between the leadership of China and the Dalai Lama and we know that the Chinese leadership is deeply committed to the Dalai Lama dissociating himself from any kind of political activity and separatist tendencies in regard to one or another territory in China.”
Lavrov explained that the occasional attempts to politicise the Dalai Lama’s role as a spiritual leader have not yielded any results, not even in the context of his relations with Buddhists in Russia. “If all the parties make attempts to separate clearly pastoral contacts from political associations, this would be a solution to the problem. We are ready to assist in this.”
This statement was rather unexpected; first, because Moscow does not interfere in ‘Beijing’s internal affairs’; further, a few days earlier when the Buddhists in Kalmykia asked the Russian Foreign Ministry to issue an entry visa to the Dalai Lama, it was apparently refused, though Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of the Republic of Kalmykia affirmed that Elista, the capital of Kalmykia was expecting the Dalai Lama to consecrate a temple.
During a news conference, Ilyumzhinov clarified his personal position: “The Church is separated from the State in our country, but as a person professing Buddhism, I wait for the Dalai Lama’s visit.”
The three Russian Republics of Kalmykia, Buryatia and Tuva have a predominantly Buddhist population. These small, but strategically located, republics have nearly 1 million Buddhists representing about 0.5 per cent of the total population of the Russian Federation.
The Tibetan leader has visited the Buddhist republics several times in the past, but since 2007 the Dalai Lama has been denied entry to Russia. His last visit was in 2004, when he paid a religious visit to Kalmykia to consecrate the land for a Buddhist temple.
Telo Tulku Rinpoche, the Kalmyk Head Lama, recently confirmed that the Russian authorities have declined the request of the Kalmykia Buddhist Association for a visa to the Dalai Lama. He said a letter from the Russian government stated: “The Dalai Lama’s visit to Russia would be taken by Beijing especially sensitively in the current year marking a jubilee of China’s and our common victory in WWII.”
In these circumstances, the declaration of Lavrov is rather surprising. It is true that in recent years academic interest has increased considerably in the Buddhist republics.
Dr Garri Irina from the Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Ulan-Ude (Buryata) wrote: “Tibet and Buryatia are countries very closely related to each other. First of all, both regions share a common historical destiny of Tibet-Mongolian civilization which is rooted in Tibetan Buddhism and submission to the authority of His Holiness the Dalai Lama . … Both regions passed through a similar history of persecution of religion and its subsequent revival . … There are more than 200 Buddhist communities in Russia now.”
A revival of Buddhism (the Tibetan Mahayana tradition) is visible in these republics located north of Outer Mongolia (Tuva and Buryata) and on the Caspian Sea (Kalmykia).
Recently, historians have discovered several documents showing the close connection between the rulers of Tibet and the Russian Empire. For example, 25 secret letters from Thubten Gyatso, the thirteenth Dalai Lama to his representative in Russia, a Buryat monk called Agvan Dorzhiev have come to light. The letters, dating between 1910 and 1925, demonstrate that the Dalai Lama was interested in getting political support from Russia, mainly to balance the British influence in Tibet and keep the Chinese nationalists at bay. The Lhasa government maintained strict confidentiality in its communications with St Petersburg and till recently, it was not known.
.... you can read the entire article by following the links, above.
Elephant Journal is running with a fine ball of memory: Joni Mitchell and Trungpa Rinpoche, and how she came to write "Refuge of the Road" for him -- which should probably be our collective theme song. You need to visit this one.
"There was a continuity of your mind before you were born to your present parents, before your consciousness was conceived in your mother's womb. It was not that the sperm from your father fertilized the egg from your mother and the consciousness suddenly happened without cause and conditions. Otherwise, these things would be happening for no reason. There wouldn't be any cause for you to be so afraid of this person or so angry with them.
"There are some people that you spend your whole life fighting, whether it's in your family or in the office; you might live together but you're always fighting. All these things have a reason from past lives. It's a continuation of something that happened in a past life, and the effect is being experienced so that you see that person in that way. There are some people you think are beautiful, and attachment arises toward them; there are other people you see as undesirable, and anger arises toward them. It's all the creation of your mind, the creation of your different minds. When you change your mind, when you change your discriminating thoughts of anger and attachment, you see them differently."
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